Family Photo Shoot

I'm super lucky to have an amazinlg talented friend as a photographer. Her name is Cynthia Cockriel and she is fabulous! (check out her website- www.cynthiaphotos.com)
What's even better is that we trade services. I do hair and make up for some of her photo shoots and also for her family. In return she dose our family photos & develops them. I have to admitt I feel like I'm getting the better end of this deal!
It's been so fun to work with her over the past few years. Each time she does our photos I love them even more than the year before..... And I'm so happy that she wants to trade because otherwise I couldn't afford her!






So here are our shoots from this year. We actually took these over two days in early November. The first was the fam, but Cynthia didn't feel like we had enough of the boys. So we got them dressed up again and I took them out for one more round. (That's the main reason why there are so many more shots of me than Greg, sorry honey. Really I don't think he cares.)
The first day was at this darling farm about 40 mins from our house. I guess there really is a lot of farm land around us. I just don't usually see it. The second day we went to a local park. Poor Brody, I accidently shut the car door on his little finger right when we got there. But, "The show must go on" after a few pieces of candy he was ready to smile. He was even excited to show me some shots he took while I was chasing Tate around and wasn't watching him.






I waited very impatiently till she called to say the pics. were ready. She's very professional about the whole thing. When your pictures are ready to view she calls you over to her home to watch them on a DVD her son makes. She like to watch your reaction as you see the photos for the first time. Is is rude to say I was blown away by them? She is so talented, she really made us look good. I'm so happy to have such great family photos. The only problem is that now I am TOTALLY SPOILED by her and neither one of us can ever move away now!

It's begining to look a lot like ChRIsTmAs!

I LOVE this time of year. I know most people do. There is just such a magic in the air, a feeling of togetherness. For us the fun started when we woke up Sunday morning to SNOW on the ground! Luckily (for me driving) there wasn't much, but enough to feel festive & cozy. I really hoped we could get the tree out that night, but things got too busy... so much for Sunday being a day of rest. Only 4 weeks till early church!!
All day & night Brody kept begging to get the tree out. Finally last night we put it all together. (Although I still have corn stalks on the outside of our house. Better get on that!)


Greg was a good sport. After a long day back to work he just wanted to relax, but Brody was persistent and Greg went along with it. He even smiled for the pictures!




Tate was so excited about the Christmas Tree. He wanted to put the Angel on top.

Now the tree was up.
Decorating it on the other hand......... I was really trying to not be OCD and to let the boys help out. But when they broke the little peanut cushy things into a million tiny pieces, started throwing them in the air saying, "Santa, Snow!" "Santa, Snow!" I lost it a little. Cute as they were, the mess was not! I had to call in the reinforcements. Maybe next year we can all decorate together.

Speaking of cute! One treasured(?) find was a singing and dancing frog that Grandma Linda bought last year. The boys loved playing with it...... in fact I hear it going right now. I know this video is a little dark, but they are just so darn cute! I had to share. For the record this was the first I'd seen Brody's break dancing moves. I'm pretty impressed.

"Count your many blessings"

We were so happy to have Dad and Ann Marie join us during the week of Thanksgiving. For being here only a few days we sure crammed a lot of fun in. Eating at Jack Stack, Baking, going to the park , on a walk, more baking.... Jogging, movie watching, going to the Plaza, (no not when David Cook was there). Shopping, Foos, Union Station, train rides, eating, playing and eating some more.

For the actual Thanksgiving Day we had a casual celebration. To take a break from cooking we went over to the park. It was fun for us all to play, not just the boys. Then I took them on the trail to see why I love it there so much. Even with the bare trees it still was beautiful & peaceful. Anne Marie and I ditched the boys to go for a little run before we stuffed our faces.

We cooked the traditional meal and were all very grateful that the deep fried turkey didn't catch on fire! Our friends Ken & Kristi Lord came to enjoy with us. Their two oldest girls were visiting family in Utah, so they just brought Garren & Jackson who are buddies of our boys. After dinner we played wii and watched Speed Racer... (wonder who picked that?) It was a very fun, very relaxing day. Dad and Annie even had the dishes done before I even came down from putting the boys to bed.
They were so helpful around the house, almost too helpful. It makes me wonder how I ever kept up with out them...... Oh yeah- I don't! Although we never did go see twilight with them, Greg is so bummed, we enjoyed their company and hope they come to see us again soon.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (like 2 weeks ago!)

Okay first off- I just updated a TON! So make sure to read all the ones I just posted-K!

So Here's the deal from our Halloween this year. It was seriously so fun. One of the best Halloweens in recent years. I think the main reason was the weather. It was absolutly beautiful! I think it was like 65 degrees or something perfect like that. The past few years have been so cold that by the time we get around to trick or treating we are frozen after 10 mins, not this year... But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Our first festivities for the season started with Brody's school party which you can read more about below. Then the gym I work at, Lifetime Fitness (Although I am quitting this week. I hate that word "Quitting". I mean I only teach one class, so it's not like I'm a real important employee to them. I've been there 2 years and I only do it for the free membership. Lately I've been super busy with doing hair and that's what I love doing anyway, So time to move on. I know you all cared, but anyway) They hosted a costume party. It was so fun to get the boys dressed up. I wouldn't let them play in their costumes before that night for fear that they would destroy them, so they were super excited. This was the first year I didn't have a hand-me-down for Tate, so I could dress them with a theme together. It wasn't hard to figure that one out. They love the movie Speed Racer. So, Speed & Racer X it is. (I'm so glad the power ranger costume phase passed!)

This is my favorite photo from this year. And it's the only one with their helmets on.
My "pit crew" sweatshirt wasn't ready yet, so I was just a
Boy Scout with one of Greg's shirts. He was golfing that afternoon and sadly missed the photo opts. He was able to join us for a little fun at the end.

The boys and I also vetured out to our Ward (Church's) Halloween Party. This night was not so fun. Greg was working late so I took the boys alone only to be totally overwhelmed once we got there. There were so many people in a little space. I couldn't keep track of Speed Racer running one direction & Racer X running in the other, then going to sneak treats. I was not a happy Mama and was about to leave, 30 mins after we got there, but then Greg called and said he was coming. He always has to be fashionably late! We stayed a little while longer enough to play a few carnival games and called it a night.

I thought it would be fun to include some pics from previous Halloweens with the boys. I just can't believe how fast they are growing up!

For the actual Halloween night a few friends got our families together at The Pizza Shoppe for dinner. This worked out so nice. There were too many families that we wanted to be with to sanely accommodate in any of our homes, so this was the perfect option. All you can eat pizza, no prep work, no clean up. Just show up eat, chat and move on our way. I can definitely see us doing this again next year. As the kiddos finished eating some of the Dads took them to a grassy spot in the parking lot to run off some energy. Tate almost pooped-out even before the trick or treating & Brody busted his lip, but it was all in good fun and they both were fine.

I had ordered a Speed Racer Sweatshirt for Greg too, so we could be the "pit crew", but it never came. He was bummed as you can imagine.....

I was only able to capture a few of the kids the rest didn't want to wait for pictures. We had about 10 or so families, so it was a pretty good sized group. That made it really fun.

After dinner we all went to the same neighborhood to Trick or Treat. I think this is my most favorite neighborhood for Halloween. Every home was deck-out in some form. Some very classy, other way over the top with grave sites and giant spiders. It was fun. That combined with the falling leaves and the beautiful weather made for a perfect Halloween night. Tate was so funny as he realized what was happening. He was so happy to be getting candy. Brody ran along and had as much fun with his friends as he did with the candy. Even Greg enjoyed himself which is saying something because this is his least favorite holiday. I can easily say this was our best FAMILY Halloween ever!

First Love

This is only Brody's second year of pre-school, so I'm still pretty excited by the whole thing. He goes three days a week with an extended day on Wednesdays. He loves getting to take his lunch to school. He also loves Avery.
She was in his class last year and became his "girlfriend". I didn't think he knew what that meant, that he just thought she was cute & fun to play with. Even over the summer he would say that he missed seeing her at school. So we were excited to find out that they had the same teacher again this year. But now I am starting to worry a little bit about this school crush.

(This is Brody with Avery last year at our Mother's Day Tea.)

I thought it was just cute until he told me he asked her to marry him a few weeks ago."WHAT?!" I said. "Yeah, I asked her at circle time" He said. "Well how? What did you say?" "I just said, Well maybe you want to marry me?.....(He hangs his head low) But she said no. She says she's going to marry her brother." (I'm trying not to laugh) "Oh, that's okay. You should just be friends right now anyway." "But I want to marry her!" "Why?" I asked. "Who talked to you about getting married? What do you think it means to be married?" "It means you get to be with the girl forever."
Now this was all still pretty cute, but that was about a month ago. I thought I had convinced him to just enjoy being four and not worry about getting married until he's Mommy & Daddy's age, but he still talks about marring her, like almost every day! I've tried all sorts of things to talk him out of it. Greg even tried to tell him that girls have cooties till they turn 16, He didn't buy it.
I mean I LOVE that he will talk with me about her. I really want to encourage that for the future, but this kid is way too interested with this little girl! He's told me that they will get married and move to California, but I will stay here in KC, because, "You like it here, right Mommy? But you can come visit us." He is so funny all the things he has thought of. I fear that he is going to get his sweet little heart broken. Where does he get this stuff? I just worry that if he is this excited about a girl at 4 what will he be like as a teenager??!!! SCARY!
You can bet that I have made the switch to Organic milk. Too many hormones in this little boy!

(Brody with Avery & Tate playing Harvest Bingo while Tate eats the candy corn game pieces)

Anyway-Avery isn't the only thing we talk about. He tells me all about school. He is learning to write his name and he's getting pretty good at it. He and his friends play power rangers & puppies during recess. He loves when it's his turn to bring snacks & show n tell. He was even super excited for Tate and I to come help out with their Harvest (not Halloween mind you) party.



Every day I drop Brody off it is a struggle to keep Tate out of the classroom. So he was really excited about the party too. He came right in a sat down to play with Brody & his friends. Luckily they are sweet brothers and Brody thought it was fun to show Tate everything he does at school.




The party was great. The kids played games, decorated cookies & crafts. At the end we got to join them in circle time. I love watching Brody discover the fun in learning. I hope he will always be this enthusiastic about school. I am so impressed with how well he is doing, both socially and intellectually. I just hope he doesn't let his interest in girls get in the way! Married at 4?Oh brother, We'll have to keep our eye on this one!

Mom's VIsit

My Mom came to visit a few weeks ago. It was fun to have her here. I love to drive her around and point out why Kansas City is so much better than Salt Lake. (And the only real reason I do that is because she is constantly trying to convince us otherwise. She thinks she can get us to move there..... I don't think so.) Anyway- It was nice having "Nonnie" around. We made yummy food, shopped a little and played with the boys a lot. One place Brody loves to go is called Paradise Park. It's this great discovery play place in Lees Summit. He couldn't wait to take Nonnie there.

We also went to another Pumpkin Patch with Greg. The reason we wanted to go to this one was because it had a train ride. We also got to see an amazing pig race! (Okay totally kidding about the amazing part. But it was fun to watch the boys get excited about the piggies). We had a great time with Mom and like every trip. It ended much too soon!

Apple Orchards & Pumpkin Patches

Last month we decided we really wanted to be festive for fall. We had heard about this fun Apple Orchard just out of the city that lets you pick your own apples. We got the boys in the car and headed for the drive. That in itself was fun to see the changing leaves. Once we got there we walked around the orchard, posed with the photo opts and had a yummy apple treat. It was pretty fun, but it was starting to get crowded.
We noticed across the street was a farm that also had a pumpkin patch. In the spirit of being festive we went to check it out. It was so fun. They had a big hay maze, animals and the most variety of pumpkins & gourds that I have ever seen. It was a really fun way to start off the fall season. I think we'll make this a tradition.

BITTEN TAKE 2

So, Some of you may remember from last year that when my friends & I read the first three books in the Twilight series we (like the rest of the world) were hooked. I really hadn't taken time to read much before, but these books were so fun it inspired me to start a book club. Our first meeting was to discuss these three books. I called the book club bitten because I had been "bitten" by the reading bug (and also the whole vampire thing made it sound clever. ha ha)
We have continued through the year not as often as we'd hoped, but we're working on that. Last week we hit our year mark & celebrated by discussing the fourth and final book, Breaking Dawn. I hosted.


I personally was VERY disappointed with the book. I felt like it was boring, slow and extremely cheesy. The only real good thing that came from it, in my opinion was the excuse to have another fun get together with my girl-friends. Most of the other girls felt the same way, only not quite as strong. There were a few who liked it.
I also read Stephanie Meyer's book The Host. I didn't enjoy that much either. I think it put a bad taste in my mouth for her writing, which honestly makes me sad because I LOVED the first 3. I'm curious, dose anyone else feel the same way? Any thoughts on this subject are welcome, just don't try to convince me I'm wrong. My opinion is that Breaking Dawn bit it. She could have done so much more with the story...... UHG! Okay- I won't get into it. The book club was really fun though-

One thing that I absolutely love about my friends out here is that they know how to cook!!! We did a dinner and had everyone chip in by bringing a soup, salad or dessert. I supplied the bread bowls. Everything was SO YUMMY! See, you can tell I grew up a fat kid because I still love to talk about food! But come on a Chocolate Pumpkin Cheesecake, doesn't that make everyone drool?

We had so much fun chatting, catching up and discussing the book. I really feel like I'm home here with these girls. I hope they all know how important they are to me. (sniff sniff) Okay, and I was complaining about Stephanie Meyer being cheesy?

Even though I didn't love this book like I had the others, it just wouldn't be fare not to make a CD like we had before. So Melessa and I got together again to create our soundtrack for Breaking Dawn. Can I just say it was really hard! Harder than I thought. There were so many little story lines that happened, but didn't always mean a whole lot to the story, so we had to decided what we felt had to be represented or not.( I think this made me like the book even less). We are pretty happy with the outcome, However we did have to cut a few songs that we really wanted because of CD space. I'm going to post the complete playlist here, even though the CD doesn't have all these songs. Could someone please make a CD-R that is longer than 80 mins!
The cover

The Inside Playlist

THE SONGS-
*The only song I couldn't find this time was Stay Down by The Smoking Popes. It's a great song and it fits between
Dark Blue & Hemorrhage.* (scroll down to view the complete list)

Last years CDs. Click here if you want to check out those playlists.


...... Now, I wasn't going to post these. But in the interest of super fun girls nights, I must divulge. (I maybe kinda sorta went to the American Idol concert when it came in August). SEE! I wasn't going to tell you because I don't want you to think I'm a nerd or something. Okay, well we all know I am, but what can I do? I had to see David Cook again. But it was good because it helped me get over my little crush.

We had such a fun night. We went to dinner before and had "some adventures" driving there. We were a little late and missed the first act. I was very surprised how well they all did. They were so good. They really do make it look easy on tv.
After the show we saw David Archuleta's Dad and Kristi went over to say Hi and tell him she was from Utah. He was super nice and We got a picture with him. Then it just steamrolled into seeing the other performers and meeting some. We had to wait around a bit and I felt kinda silly about it, but it was all part of the fun. We met Kimberly Caldwell who is dating David Cook. She was very cool & easy to talk to. Since this is his home town she came to met his family & friends. (Don't I sound like I'm one of them? I'm trying hard not to sound so dorky, but I know I'm failing. Oh well, it was fun to hang with B-list celebs).

Surprisingly Kristy Leigh Cook, who was my least favorite- was the nicest to the fans. We talked with her a little while and she seemed pretty normal and very friendly. Brooke White was of corse sweet, but she was rushing to go to dinner with her hubby. Half of the cast didn't even come out to say Hi, which I though was pretty lame of them. I did give David Cook another High 5, but no picture this time. I wasn't about to take another stalker shot. See, I've grown in the past few months!
I still love his voice & he is a fantastic performer. I also talked with his brother Andrew a little bit more. I think we're almost friends. :}
After the AI hoopla we stayed Downtown a little to hang out and chat some more. It was such a fun night. We drove home blasting the music and dancing in the car. I felt like I was 16 again!
My friends are so great! And I have to add that Greg is so great for taking over with the boys every now and then so I can go have a little kid-less fun. :)Thanks!

Tate's Turn

I was looking at the blog today with Tate trying to find some cute videos of him. It seemed like most were of Brody. I have to be fair, so here are some random (and darling) pictures & videos of Tater.

I filmed this two nights ago. He just started doing this cheer out of nowhere. He's done it a few times now. I really don't know where he learned it, or what he's trying to say, but he is SO cute. I only caught the end of it here.

I grabbed the camera because he had been dancing around a lot the past few days, just acting extra happy& singing.
I figured he'd do something cute.
We have been working with a speech therapist once a week. I think it is helping. He is so smart and knows what he wants to say, it just doesn't come out very clear. He is trying to talk more than he did before.

This was when we went to Indiana. He put the googles on and thought that meant he could now swim like his cousins. He just dipped his head into the water and was ready to go!
Tate loves to eat frozen blueberries. I have to be quick to clean him up or else there is a big mess. Actualy that's pretty much the case with everything he eats. He always ends up wearing it!
Tate is starting to potty train! We are doing some re-flooring to our downstairs bathroom and until that is finished I'm not "officially" going to teach him, but we do get him going sometimes. He really wants to be a big boy.


This was when we visited my Mom back in July. Tate started playing peek-a-boo with her. He is such a fun kid to have around, so full of personality.
Okay, Now I feel better. He will love seeing this in the morning. My boys are so vain, they love watching videos of themselves... wonder where they get that from?